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Show the range is from 45 to 94 percent. Thus it appears that at least half of the families involved are tenants. Alleviation of these hardships is apparently the responsibility of no one. No agency of government gives aid in relocating either tenants or owners. They must seek out new opportunities for them- selves. Such opportunities may be difficult to find, because in some localities many farm families will move at the same time. About 1,000 families in the western plains and 400 in the eastern plains must move in the next 5 years. In that same period, about 1,200 families in the lower basin will move. This forced mass migration in a relatively short time calls for great skill in handling the personal problems involved and in carrying out a forward- looking acquisition program so as to handle the problem equitably. Present legislation does not permit compensation for: facilities on property without a firm lease ac- quired for reservoir purposes; cost of moving from the acquired property; business facilities located adjacent to or entirely dependent upon highways or railroads which are to be abandoned or relocated. In some cases, a businessman or farmer may have heavy or bulky machinery which may be costly to move to a new location. If the man owns no prop- erty within the reservoir area, there is no way by which he can be reimbursed. He is forced to move against his will, and may feel that he should be reimbursed for the costs. Legislation is needed to provide a more satisfactory method for meeting such situations. Effects on local tax bases.-Population losses in some counties will be an economic loss. Also, some of the best lands are removed from the tax base. There may be savings in expenditures for schools, roads, and other services, but they may not offset the losses. Where irrigation is involved, the length of time required to bring land into production will further adversely affect the tax structure. Though the reservoirs will result in some local gains, these may not be sufficient, in States like North or South Dakota, to overcome the losses. At present there is no information to show how the water program will affect the local tax revenues in the next decade or more. Assuming the program is thoroughly suc- cessful, the end result for many counties should be an increase in population and income. If a large amount of property is removed from the county tax rolls as a result of reservoir construction, the revenue for the general operation of the county government will be decreased. Consequently, in some instances, the tax rate must be increased to permit equivalent general revenue for operation of the county government. The Flood Control Act of 1941 provides that 75 percent of the income from leasing lands acquired for flood control purposes is returned to the State for public schools and roads, as the State legislature may prescribe,23 in the county in which the property is situated. Reclamation laws do not authorize any returns to the counties in lieu of taxes on land taken for res- ervoirs, canals, or other irrigation facilities. It has been felt that an irrigation enterprise creates addi- tional values which over the long run yield material revenues to the county and State. However, in the Missouri Basin, there are several reservoirs which take land out of production in one county for the benefit of another. In three instances, reclamation reservoirs are provided in Wyoming which benefit the public in South Dakota and Montana: Edge- mont Reservoir on Beaver Creek; Alzada Reservoir on the Little Missouri; and Moorhead Reservoir on the Powder. This situation of nonreimbursement to local units for land acquired by the Federal Government is further complicated by the extent of Federal hold- ings generally. In the Missouri Basin, some 43 mil- lion acres are federally owned. These lands are as follows (data as of about 1947) : 1 Indian lands omitted. See table 9. Legislation relating to these Federal lands pro- vides varying amounts of money as contributions to local governments. The grazing district lands under the Bureau of Land Management in the 23 Act of August 18, 1941, § 7, 55 Stat. 638, as amended, 33 U. S. C. 701c-3. 233 Upper West- East- L Federal agency1 water- em em . . Total shed plains plains Thousand acres Bureau of Land Man-----------------------------¦------------------ agement......... 9,877 7,161 61 117,100 Forest Service.......12, 439 4, 204 1 145 16, 789 Soil Conservation Service................. 4, 582 58 14 4, 654 National defense___ 96 1,081 133 112 1,422 Parks and wildlife... 1,626 786 202 37 2,651 Other............. 18 170 25 4 217 Total Federal 25,056 17,984 480 313 42,833 |